United States President Donald Trump has insisted he made no mistake by sharing a video on his official Truth Social account that depicted Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, as apes.
Trump spoke late Friday aboard Air Force One while addressing reporters who questioned him about the controversial post, which sparked outrage across political lines.
“I didn’t make a mistake,” the President said, adding that he saw no reason to apologise over the incident.
He explained that he did not watch the video in its entirety before it was shared, noting that his attention was drawn to its initial claims about alleged irregularities in voting machines.
“I didn’t see the whole thing. I looked at the first part, and it was really about voter fraud in the machines, how crooked it is,” Trump said, adding that responsibility for reviewing the full content lay with his media team.
When asked whether he condemned the racist portrayal contained in the video, Trump responded, “Of course I do.”
The clip, posted late Thursday, promoted a conspiracy theory surrounding the 2020 election and included offensive imagery portraying the Obamas as animals.
It remained visible on Trump’s Truth Social account for about 12 hours before it was taken down on Friday morning following widespread condemnation.
Earlier on Friday, the White House had defended the post in a statement issued by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who described the video as an internet meme.
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King,” Leavitt said.
She dismissed the backlash as exaggerated, urging the media to “stop the fake outrage” and focus on issues she said mattered more to Americans.
The video was removed hours after the statement was issued.